Moving Lights
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:49 pm
The question is: "Can I use moving Light symbols in LXFree?"
The basic answer is Yes-partly.
There are three related parts to any symbol in LXFree.
The first is the symbol itself. Symbols are collections of points which describe a path which can be drawn on the plot. You can think of this like like a connect the dots puzzle that draws a picture. The picture is a collection of lines and curves that can mean anything.
The second part is the key entry which associates a symbol with a collection of information. This is where the picture is defined as representing a particular type of fixture that behaves in a certain way.
The third part is the use of the symbol in a plot. The particular instance of the symbol also has information that describes it.
The difference between the information in a key entry and the information attached to a instance of that type of light is from general to specific. For example, all fresnels used in the plot represented by a particular key entry have a spot/flood range that is specific to the manufacturer and model. An individual fresnel drawn on the plot has a beam that is defined for that fixture alone and falls within the range defined in the key entry.
The thing that may not be obvious is that all key entries also fall into a "kind" category. Both the general information in the key entry and the information about any specific instance is related to the kind or class of fixture. In the preceeding example, a key entry that represents a kind of fresnel has a beam minimum and maximum (spot to flood). A key entry representing a fixed focus kind (eg. a 26degree) only has a single beam width. Likewise, looking at the information for an individual 26 degree drawn on the plot, there is no variable beam setting.
LXFree 1.0 does not currently have a kind of fixture that represents the parameters of a moving light. If you want to draw a moving light, you can use a symbol that represents a moving fixture in a key entry. But, the associated data will have to conform to one of the conventional types: zoom ellipse, fixed ellipse, PAR, fresnel/PC, etc.
The flexibility to eventually support moving fixtures is included in the foundation of LX. For example, device tables allow for a channel to control values for a field. The current release includes three device types, I-Cue, Scroller and DMX Iris.
For more information about keys, look at the help for the Inspector's Symbols tab.
Right now, you can download a beta version of the LXKeyEditor which is the easiest way to configure a key and select the symbol you want to use.
If you download the LXTools beta and open LXKeyEditor, you'll be able to
create a new entry by selecting the kind from the Entries menu. Once
you've got an entry, clicking Change Symbol will let you search through
the built-in symbols. If you scroll just up from the bottom, you'll see
a number of symbols representing moving fixtures. There's Intellebeam,
Telescan, CyberLight, early VL, and MAC. The original VL1 is the most
generic of all.
Of course, with LXSymbolEditor, you can make your own symbol and use
that too.
The basic answer is Yes-partly.
There are three related parts to any symbol in LXFree.
The first is the symbol itself. Symbols are collections of points which describe a path which can be drawn on the plot. You can think of this like like a connect the dots puzzle that draws a picture. The picture is a collection of lines and curves that can mean anything.
The second part is the key entry which associates a symbol with a collection of information. This is where the picture is defined as representing a particular type of fixture that behaves in a certain way.
The third part is the use of the symbol in a plot. The particular instance of the symbol also has information that describes it.
The difference between the information in a key entry and the information attached to a instance of that type of light is from general to specific. For example, all fresnels used in the plot represented by a particular key entry have a spot/flood range that is specific to the manufacturer and model. An individual fresnel drawn on the plot has a beam that is defined for that fixture alone and falls within the range defined in the key entry.
The thing that may not be obvious is that all key entries also fall into a "kind" category. Both the general information in the key entry and the information about any specific instance is related to the kind or class of fixture. In the preceeding example, a key entry that represents a kind of fresnel has a beam minimum and maximum (spot to flood). A key entry representing a fixed focus kind (eg. a 26degree) only has a single beam width. Likewise, looking at the information for an individual 26 degree drawn on the plot, there is no variable beam setting.
LXFree 1.0 does not currently have a kind of fixture that represents the parameters of a moving light. If you want to draw a moving light, you can use a symbol that represents a moving fixture in a key entry. But, the associated data will have to conform to one of the conventional types: zoom ellipse, fixed ellipse, PAR, fresnel/PC, etc.
The flexibility to eventually support moving fixtures is included in the foundation of LX. For example, device tables allow for a channel to control values for a field. The current release includes three device types, I-Cue, Scroller and DMX Iris.
For more information about keys, look at the help for the Inspector's Symbols tab.
Right now, you can download a beta version of the LXKeyEditor which is the easiest way to configure a key and select the symbol you want to use.
If you download the LXTools beta and open LXKeyEditor, you'll be able to
create a new entry by selecting the kind from the Entries menu. Once
you've got an entry, clicking Change Symbol will let you search through
the built-in symbols. If you scroll just up from the bottom, you'll see
a number of symbols representing moving fixtures. There's Intellebeam,
Telescan, CyberLight, early VL, and MAC. The original VL1 is the most
generic of all.
Of course, with LXSymbolEditor, you can make your own symbol and use
that too.